Nous Hermes 2 Mixtral 8x7B DPO on Intel Xeon E3-1200 v5 NAS (64 GB)

Can the Intel Xeon E3-1200 v5 NAS (64 GB) run Nous Hermes 2 Mixtral 8x7B DPO?

Yes, but slowly

Slow. At Q2_K it needs about 24.7 GB of 54.4 GB usable, with an estimated speed of 3.3 tok/s.

Best quant: Q2_K
Generation speed: 3.3 tok/s
Prompt processing: 7.0 tok/s
First token (1K prompt): 146.8 s
Largest safe context: 32K

Best app to run it on the Intel Xeon E3-1200 v5 NAS (64 GB)

On Linux

Ollama

Command line + local API · runs on llama.cpp (ggml), MLX (Apple silicon, preview)

One command with Ollama’s own build of this model.
Serves an OpenAI-compatible API that other apps and coding tools can use.

ollama run nous-hermes2-mixtral:8x7b-dpo-q2_K

llama.cpp Usually the first to support new model architectures.
KoboldCpp

How we choose: the files published for this model, which apps run in a container on a NAS without a graphics card (models run on its processor), and whether the model fits fully in the memory models can use. Details.

Download Nous Hermes 2 Mixtral 8x7B DPO

Recommended for the Intel Xeon E3-1200 v5 NAS (64 GB): Q2_K. Every other quantization has its own download link in the table below.

Quickest · Ollama

One command downloads a ready-to-run version and starts a chat.

Get Ollama at ollama.com/download (opens in a new tab) · model page (opens in a new tab)

ollama run nous-hermes2-mixtral:8x7b-dpo-q2_K

Quantized files · GGUF

Works in LM Studio, llama.cpp, Jan and Ollama. No sign-in needed.

Download the Q2_K file (opens in a new tab)

huggingface.co/NousResearch/Nous-Hermes-2-Mixtral-8x7B-DPO-GGUF (opens in a new tab)

ollama run hf.co/NousResearch/Nous-Hermes-2-Mixtral-8x7B-DPO-GGUF:Q2_K

Original weights · Hugging Face

Full-precision files from Nous Research, for fine-tuning, vLLM, Transformers.

huggingface.co/NousResearch/Nous-Hermes-2-Mixtral-8x7B-DPO (opens in a new tab)

No sign-in needed.

Links checked 3 days ago against Hugging Face, Ollama and GitHub.

How it’s rated

Quality 36Basic quality (D) · 36 of 100: how capable the model is at Q2_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 56/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking.: How capable the model itself is at Q2_K, from its editorial quality tier scaled by the quantization or precision. It’s the same on any hardware that runs this variant. Scale: A+ 85+ · A 70+ · B 55+ · C 40+ · D under 40.
Runs Slow: How well it runs on the Intel Xeon E3-1200 v5 NAS (64 GB): speed, capped by how well it fits in memory. Runs great: 30+ tokens/s (or near the image, video or decision speed target) · Runs well: 10+ tokens/s · Slow: 3+ tokens/s · Very slow: under 3 · Won’t run: doesn’t fit even with offload. A tight fit or RAM offload caps it at Runs well; heavy offload caps it at Slow.

Match score

To order lists, each result also gets a match score out of 100 from four parts. It favors the most capable model that still runs well.

Model qualityEditorial quality tier of the model, scaled by the quantization or precision used.	16.4 / 45
Memory fitFull marks when the model fits in the share of the NAS’s memory that models can use (the rest stays with the NAS system and its storage services); fewer when it goes past that limit.	25.0 / 25
SpeedGeneration speed against a 40 tokens/s target for LLMs, or render time against a target for image and video.	4.3 / 15
Memory useRewards using the memory you have, so a bigger, better variant beats a tiny one that leaves most memory idle.	10.5 / 15
Match score	56.2 / 100

The match score orders results; it is not shown as a grade. Quality and Runs are the two ratings in the tables.

Every quantization on the Intel Xeon E3-1200 v5 NAS (64 GB)

Quant	Memory needed	Available	Speed	Runs	Quality	Download
`Q2_K`	24.7 GB	54.4 GB	3.3 tok/s	Slow	36Basic quality (D) · 36 of 100: how capable the model is at Q2_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 56/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking.	GGUF (opens in a new tab)
`Q3_K_M`	28.9 GB	54.4 GB	2.6 tok/s	Very slow	43Fair quality (C) · 43 of 100: how capable the model is at Q3_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 60/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking.	GGUF (opens in a new tab)
`Q4_K_M`	34.5 GB	54.4 GB	2.0 tok/s	Very slow	49Fair quality (C) · 49 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 65/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking.	GGUF (opens in a new tab)
`Q5_K_M`	39.2 GB	54.4 GB	1.7 tok/s	Very slow	50Fair quality (C) · 50 of 100: how capable the model is at Q5_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 65/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking.	GGUF (opens in a new tab)
`Q6_K`	44.3 GB	54.4 GB	1.4 tok/s	Very slow	51Fair quality (C) · 51 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 65/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking.	GGUF (opens in a new tab)
`Q8_0`	55.5 GB	54.4 GB	0.9 tok/s	Very slowover memory limit	52Fair quality (C) · 52 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 50/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking.	GGUF (opens in a new tab)
`F16`	99.4 GB	54.4 GB	—	Won't run	52Fair quality (C) · 52 of 100: how capable the model is at F16, whatever it runs on. Match score 7/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking.	Original weights (opens in a new tab)

Memory figures assume 8K of context. Longer conversations or documents grow the KV cache.

Other hardware that runs it

49Fair quality (C) · 49 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 77/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Apple M4 Max (64 GB) Q4_K_M · 38.9 tok/s · Runs great
52Fair quality (C) · 52 of 100: how capable the model is at Q8_0, whatever it runs on. Match score 76/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Q8_0 · 65.3 tok/s · Runs great
49Fair quality (C) · 49 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 76/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Q4_K_M · 108 tok/s · Runs well (tight fit)
49Fair quality (C) · 49 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 75/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Apple M1 Max (64 GB) Q4_K_M · 29.5 tok/s · Runs well
49Fair quality (C) · 49 of 100: how capable the model is at Q4_K_M, whatever it runs on. Match score 72/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Apple M4 Pro (48 GB) Q4_K_M · 20.8 tok/s · Runs well (tight fit)
51Fair quality (C) · 51 of 100: how capable the model is at Q6_K, whatever it runs on. Match score 71/100 (quality, fit, speed and memory use) sets the ranking. Apple M2 Ultra (192 GB) Q6_K · 39.1 tok/s · Runs great

Quick answers

How much memory does Nous Hermes 2 Mixtral 8x7B DPO need on the Intel Xeon E3-1200 v5 NAS 64GB?

At Q2_K it needs about 24.7 GB. The Intel Xeon E3-1200 v5 NAS 64GB has 54.4 GB usable.

How fast is Nous Hermes 2 Mixtral 8x7B DPO on the Intel Xeon E3-1200 v5 NAS 64GB?

About 3.3 tok/s at Q2_K, an estimate from the hardware’s memory bandwidth and the size of the model.

Which quantization of Nous Hermes 2 Mixtral 8x7B DPO should I use on the Intel Xeon E3-1200 v5 NAS 64GB?

Q2_K. Of the versions that fit, it is the one that runs best; when two run equally well, the check prefers the higher-rated one.

Estimates come from published hardware specs and our open formulas, not from running the model on your machine. Real speed varies with runtime, drivers and settings. Numbers marked “Measured” come from a linked benchmark.